August 27 2010

8/27/10

I’ve finally completed the NEX 16mm F/2.8 review, and it would not have been possible without B&H Photo, who graciously loaned me two brand new camera kits to play with
for a month. You can thank B&H Photo, (and me) by purchasing your gear through my B&H links, that helps me to help you!! Check out the NEX deals here.

The NEX 16mm F/2.8 is a pancake-type lens, which means compact size with a budget price, and not necessarily an optical masterpiece. Design considerations more than likely were small size, low cost, and a platform for a fish-eye and super-wide (12mm) converter. With that said, the 16mm turned in a good performance, but will not meet the demands of fussy photographers that examine their images at 100% all day on a computer screen.

The best thing about this lens is that when mounted to either the NEX-3/5, you can put it in your loose fitting jeans front pocket, even if you have a waist size of 32 like me! Other good qualities include high center sharpness, eerily silent focusing, great for video, and low distortion, although it does have a complex pattern.

My opinion on buying this lens is that it only makes sense for two reasons; if you want to put the camera in your pocket, or just want the smallest package to carry around, and you think you will use the fish-eye and super-wide (equivalent coverage of 18mm) converters. Although I didn’t directly compare the images of the NEX 18-55mm and this lens, (only 2mm wider at 16mm), I didn’t notice much difference in overall image quality, especially stopped down.